Key Concept: Nothing is more important to a person than to know what is true (Arcana Coelestia 794).
Everyman forms ... for himself as it were a soul, and such after death does his life become. Nothing therefore is of more importance to a man than to know what is true. When he knows what is true, and knows it so well that it cannot be perverted, then it cannot be so much immersed in cupidities and have such deadly effect (Arcana Coelestia 794:2e).
Man, like the earth, can produce nothing good unless the knowledges of faith are first sown in him, whereby he may know what is to be believed and done (Arcana Coelestia 44).
No one can perceive what he does not know and believe, consequently he cannot be gifted with the faculty of perceiving the good of love and the truth of faith except by means of knowledges, so as to know what they are and of what nature (Arcana Coelestia 1802:3).
When man is being regenerated, he is at first led by the Lord as an infant, then as a child, afterwards as a youth, and at last as an adult. The truths he learns as a young child are altogether external and corporeal, for as yet he is unable to apprehend interior truths. These truths are no other than knowledges of such things as contain, in their inmost, things Divine; for there are knowledges of things that do not contain anything Divine in their inmost; and there are knowledges that do contain it. The knowledges that do contain what is Divine are such that they can admit interior truths more and more, successively, and in order; whereas the knowledges which do not contain what is Divine are such that they do not admit, but reject these interior truths; for the knowledges of external and corporeal good and truth are like ground, which according to its quality admits seeds of one nature and not of another, bringing to maturity one kind of seeds, and suffocating another. Knowledges which contain in their inmost what is Divine, admit into them spiritual and celestial truth and good, possessing this capacity from the Divine which is within, and which disposes; but the knowledges which do not contain in them what is Divine, admit only what is false and evil, such being their nature…. [3] The knowledges which are learned from infancy to childhood are like most general vessels, which are to be filled with goods, and in proportion as they are filled the man is enlightened. If the vessels are such as to admit into them genuine goods, then the man is enlightened from the Divine that is within them, and this successively more and more; but if they are such that genuine goods cannot be in them, then the man is not enlightened…. [5] With regard to these very knowledges of external or corporeal truth which are from collateral good, and which as before said contain in them what is Divine, and thus are capable of admitting genuine goods—such as are the knowledges with young children who are afterwards regenerated—they are in general such as are contained in the historical parts of the Word…. These are the knowledges that contain within them what is Divine, and admit into them spiritual and celestial goods and truths, because they represent and signify these goods and truths…. When such knowledges as these are known and thought of by a young child, the angels who are with him think of the Divine things which they represent and signify; and because the angels are affected therewith, their affection is communicated, and causes the delight and pleasure which the child experiences therein; and prepares his mind to receive genuine truths and goods (Arcana Coelestia 3665:2-3,5).
In order that this [the regeneration process] may be effected, the man must first of all be reborn as a little child, and must learn what is evil and false, and also what is good and true; for without knowledge he cannot be imbued with any good; for from himself he acknowledges nothing to be good but what is evil, and nothing to be true but what is false (Arcana Coelestia 3701:3).
How Important Is the Knowledge of Truth?
Key Concept: Nothing is more important to a person than to know what is true (Arcana Coelestia 794).
Everyman forms ... for himself as it were a soul, and such after death does his life become. Nothing therefore is of more importance to a man than to know what is true. When he knows what is true, and knows it so well that it cannot be perverted, then it cannot be so much immersed in cupidities and have such deadly effect (Arcana Coelestia 794:2e).
Man, like the earth, can produce nothing good unless the knowledges of faith are first sown in him, whereby he may know what is to be believed and done (Arcana Coelestia 44).
No one can perceive what he does not know and believe, consequently he cannot be gifted with the faculty of perceiving the good of love and the truth of faith except by means of knowledges, so as to know what they are and of what nature (Arcana Coelestia 1802:3).
When man is being regenerated, he is at first led by the Lord as an infant, then as a child, afterwards as a youth, and at last as an adult. The truths he learns as a young child are altogether external and corporeal, for as yet he is unable to apprehend interior truths. These truths are no other than knowledges of such things as contain, in their inmost, things Divine; for there are knowledges of things that do not contain anything Divine in their inmost; and there are knowledges that do contain it. The knowledges that do contain what is Divine are such that they can admit interior truths more and more, successively, and in order; whereas the knowledges which do not contain what is Divine are such that they do not admit, but reject these interior truths; for the knowledges of external and corporeal good and truth are like ground, which according to its quality admits seeds of one nature and not of another, bringing to maturity one kind of seeds, and suffocating another. Knowledges which contain in their inmost what is Divine, admit into them spiritual and celestial truth and good, possessing this capacity from the Divine which is within, and which disposes; but the knowledges which do not contain in them what is Divine, admit only what is false and evil, such being their nature…. [3] The knowledges which are learned from infancy to childhood are like most general vessels, which are to be filled with goods, and in proportion as they are filled the man is enlightened. If the vessels are such as to admit into them genuine goods, then the man is enlightened from the Divine that is within them, and this successively more and more; but if they are such that genuine goods cannot be in them, then the man is not enlightened…. [5] With regard to these very knowledges of external or corporeal truth which are from collateral good, and which as before said contain in them what is Divine, and thus are capable of admitting genuine goods—such as are the knowledges with young children who are afterwards regenerated—they are in general such as are contained in the historical parts of the Word…. These are the knowledges that contain within them what is Divine, and admit into them spiritual and celestial goods and truths, because they represent and signify these goods and truths…. When such knowledges as these are known and thought of by a young child, the angels who are with him think of the Divine things which they represent and signify; and because the angels are affected therewith, their affection is communicated, and causes the delight and pleasure which the child experiences therein; and prepares his mind to receive genuine truths and goods (Arcana Coelestia 3665:2-3,5).
In order that this [the regeneration process] may be effected, the man must first of all be reborn as a little child, and must learn what is evil and false, and also what is good and true; for without knowledge he cannot be imbued with any good; for from himself he acknowledges nothing to be good but what is evil, and nothing to be true but what is false (Arcana Coelestia 3701:3).
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